Given the worldwide concern about the damaging affects of carbon-based
sources of energy, whether for the industry, transport or the home, the Club
was anticipating an interesting talk from Stuart McKay. His talk Hydrogen: its Properties and its
Potential in Future Energy Mixes fully met those expectations.

Stuart reported that the Scottish
government’s Energy Strategy Division has the significant objective of ensuring
the phasing out of carbon-based energy sources by 2032. Stuart leads a small team examining the
contribution that hydrogen can make to this objective, and as a means of
maximising Scotland’s energy resources. The great advantage of using hydrogen
is that it has no carbon footprint: it is an entirely emission-free source of
energy.

Hydrogen is the most common element
in the universe, but (and there’s always a “but”) it generally comes attached
to other elements or compounds. So there is an initial challenge to find
cost-effective ways of separating hydrogen from those other elements to allow
its use as an energy source. There are, however, ways of achieving this, for
example by taking natural gas and separating out the hydrogen, though this
requires a carbon capture process to neutralise or reduce the carbon by-products. Alternatively, electrolysis can be used to
separate hydrogen from water. Where
there are adequate sources of electricity from renewable energy, for example
from wind turbines, wave power or solar energy, electrolysis has no carbon
by-products, so producing hydrogen by this means is an entirely green process.

In terms of the applications for
hydrogen, there are several potential avenues to explore. At the simplest level, it can be added to
natural gas, probably up to 20 per cent by volume, for heating and cooking
using existing boilers and cookers. The
great advantage of this application (or even the use of 100 per cent hydrogen
in due course) is that the existing plastic gas mains piping is suitable for
transmission. For use of 100 per cent
hydrogen, existing boilers and cookers would, however, have to be replaced.

Looking more broadly, hydrogen is
already being used to power vehicles. In
these instances, the predominant technology is for hydrogen cells to be used to
produce electricity. This is then used
to power vehicles using existing electrical motor technology, but with the
great advantage of avoiding the necessity for very heavy batteries. Current tests have shown that cars powered in
this way can have a range of some 400 miles between refuelling, significantly
greater than for existing battery-powered vehicles. Both Aberdeen and Fife councils already have
commercial vehicles, including buses and bin lorries, powered in this way. Looking worldwide, Toyota, in Japan, has made
a major commitment to the development of this technology. Other projects in process include an
aspiration for all vehicles at the 2020 Olympics to be hydrogen powered. On an even bolder scale, Scottish Gas
Networks is exploring the possibility of a demonstration village being powered
by hydrogen.

Members were keen to explore this
intriguing subject further, with President –Elect John Kilby having to curtail
the number of questions. Speaker’s Host
Ranald Shepherd reflected on members’ obvious interest when congratulating
Stuart on his presentation. It
illustrated vividly, he said, the importance of exploring new sources of energy
to ensure the protection of the world for future generations.